In military, quasi-military, such as certain police actions and simulated military, such as the paint ball tag game, activities it is desirable that the participants wear clothing which will protect them against certain types of projectiles and debris and to make them less visible to others. It is known that it is more difficult to ascertain the presence of an object against a background such as woods or a cultivated or uncultivated field if the object has an irregular and/or broken outline and is covered with an irregular or random color pattern in certain earth tones or colors sometimes found in the environment where the activities for which this invention is intended often take place. This is the reason for the familiar camouflage color pattern used on military clothing and equipment. In the paint ball sport it is also desirable to protect the participants from the paint ball projectiles which the players shoot at one another to produce a paint mark that indicates that the player has been hit and thus disabled or eliminated from the game and to raise the comfort level of the participants by providing a cushion in areas of potential pressure from the headgear and by absorbing perspiration from areas of the head.
Although protective body clothing for camouflage and protective effect is relatively common for use in the paint ball game activity, a suitable and effective headgear such as is disclosed by the present invention has not previously been available. Previously available protective face and headgear has consisted of close fitting masks of solid plastic construction which were hot and sweat inducing and which restricted breathing or impaired the ability of the wearer to move his or her head or has consisted of a hood made of cloth fabric tied around the neck and very awkward to wear and complicated to put on and secure. Such available headgear has not found wide acceptance by participants in the paint ball game.
Examples of the rigid mask type of headgear are shown in design U.S. Pat. No. 317,063 to Johnson, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,250,577 to Smith and 5,148,550 to Hodgkinson et al. The mask in the Johnson patent would cover the face, eyes, nose and mouth of the wearer, would be hot and uncomfortable to wear and would make it very difficult to breath or speak. This is also true of the Smith and Hodgkinson et al. masks. Smith attempts to overcome a portion of the problem by providing a "venturi nose covering on the mask to draw exhaled air from behind the mask permitting a fresh air flow behind the mask while moving." The problem of fresh air flow and cooling while the wearer is stationary is not solved by this construction. It should be noted that in the activities for which the invention is intended the wearer may be stationary for much of the time. Hodgkinson et al.'s approach is to provide slits in the mask as air vents and to flare the lower end of the mask which would be near the wearer's throat so that the wearer can lower his head without the lower end of the face portion of the mask making contact with the wearer's throat.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,247,706 to Mark shows a face shield which can be worn with eyeglasses. Mark is not concerned with camouflage and uses a substantially transparent piece of plastic as the shield which is itself easily visible by virtue of glare and reflection and through which the face and eyes of the wearer are easily detected. Mark does not address the problems of ventilation and reduction of moisture from perspiration and from exhaled breath.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,091,996 to Kirby shows a cloth hood worn over the head and extending to the shoulders. Kirby is concerned with camouflage and with avoiding the undulating movement of the loose lower portion of the hood which would be readily discernible to others from whom the wearer is trying to remain concealed. Kirby uses a smooth, woven fabric and employs a wire frame which is intended to fit closely and tightly against the contour of the face of the wearer and limit motion of the portion of the hood hanging downward from the eye area of the wearer. This would make the hood annoying and uncomfortable to wear for more than Short periods of time and make it unsuitable for the purpose for which the invention is intended.
The U.S. Pat. No. 4,812,031 to Evans shows a pair of eyeglasses which have a piece of open-weave netting or mesh fabric mounted over each of the lenses. This serves to at least partially camouflage the eyes of the wearer. In addition a camouflage pattern is printed on the fabric to further hinder observation of the eyes of the wearer.
What is needed and is provided by the present invention is protective and camouflage headgear which does not interfere with the activity of the wearer or with his or her breathing or vision but which provides a high level of protection, reduces visibility of the head, neck, face and eye covering of the wearer, reduces the effect of moisture from breathing and perspiration, is easily put on and removed and incorporates goggles or some other form of eye protection or can be associated with or attached to preexisting goggles or other eye protection to reduce visibility of such eye protection and provides cushioning in areas where pressure from the headgear may occur on the face and head of the person wearing it.
The fabric portion of the headgear should be constructed for easy separation from the goggles so that the fabric can be washed or otherwise cleaned after use. The headgear should have an irregular outline and be provided with a camouflage pattern of suitable colors to make it difficult to detect in the environment in which it is expected to be used.